Don’t Be A Mosquito Magnet

Don’t Be A Mosquito Magnet

Want to try and keep those pesky skeeters at bay in hunting camp? Try putting some water in a white dinner plate and add a couple drops of Lemon Fresh Joy dish detergent.

Summertime, and early deer seasons, are a time of biting insects, especially mosquitoes. And it’s true — mosquitoes do exhibit preferences, experts say. As an aside, it’s not a free meal they’re sucking out of you. Female mosquitoes — males do not bite people — need human blood to develop fertile eggs. And apparently, not just anyone’s.

So, who do mosquitoes like Best? According to Joe Conlon, PhD, technical advisor to the American Mosquito Control Association, “There’s a tremendous amount of research being conducted on what compounds and odors people exude that might be attractive to mosquitoes. Researchers are just beginning to scratch the surface.”

Scientists do know that genetics account for a whopping 85 percent of a human’s susceptibility to mosquito bites. They’ve also identified certain elements of body chemistry that, when found in excess on the skin’s surface, make mosquitoes swarm closer.

“People with high concentrations of steroids or cholesterol on their skin surface attract mosquitoes,” Jerry Butler, PhD, professor emeritus at the University of Florida. told WebMD. That doesn’t necessarily mean that mosquitoes prey on people with higher overall levels of cholesterol, he said, noting that these people simply may be more efficient at processing cholesterol, the byproducts of which remain on the skin’s surface.